The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a retired American single-seat, subsonic, twin-engined, stealth attack aircraft developed by Lockheed's secretive Skunk Works division and operated by the United States Air Force (USAF).

Discover the F-117 Nighthawk, the world's first operational stealth aircraft, revolutionizing aerial warfare with its innovative capabilities and iconic design.

On 27 March 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia amid the Kosovo War, a Yugoslav Army unit shot down a Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth ground attack aircraft of the United States Air Force by firing a S-125 Neva/Pechora surface-to-air missile. It was the first ever shootdown of a stealth technology airplane.

Mar 30, 2025 · F-117, single-seat, twin-engine jet fighter-bomber built by the Lockheed Corporation (now part of the Lockheed Martin Corporation) for the U.S. Air Force. It was the first stealth aircraft—i.e., an aircraft designed entirely around the concept of evading detection by radar and other sensors.

The Lockheed F-117A was developed in response to an Air Force request for an aircraft capable of attacking high value targets without being detected by enemy radar. By the 1970s, new materials and techniques allowed engineers to design an …

Nov 5, 2024 · Lockheed's Skunk Works started its development of the F-117 Nighthawk in 1977 after the U.S. Air Force requested an undetectable fighter jet capable of wiping out high-value targets. The Air...

May 3, 2023 · The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk, known to the world as the “Stealth Fighter,” entered operational service in 1989 with a limited role in the invasion of Panama, but the public became more aware of the aircraft when it saw widespread use in combat during the first Gulf War in 1990-91.

•The F-117 takes its first flight piloted by Hal Farley, project pilot. (June 1981) •The first F-117A unit, the 4450th Tactical Group (renamed the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing in October 1989), achieves initial operational capability. (October 1983) •The F-117 is used in combat for the first time in Operation Just Cause when F-117s from the ...

Jan 24, 2022 · Designed to penetrate enemy airspace undetected and deliver munitions with pin-point precision, the angular “Stealth Fighter” saw action in every major U.S. military operation from Panama to Afghanistan.

Jul 3, 2019 · The Lockheed F-117A Nighthawk was the world's first operational stealth aircraft. Designed to evade enemy radar systems, the F-117A was developed as a stealth attack aircraft by Lockheed's famed "Skunk Works" unit in the late 1970s and early 1980s.